The winter session of Parliament on Wednesday turned warmer as BNP MPs raised the issue of violence in Chattogram City Corporation elections with AL and opposition Jatiya Party MPs giving fiery replies.
BNP MP Harunur Rashid raised the issue while taking part in the discussion of Civil Courts (Amendment) Bill, 2021 passage.
He said it is stated in the Constitution that elected public representatives will run the administration at every level.
"But what is happening today, farce is applied in the name of election, mockery is all around, there’s no need for this. In the morning, it was seen what's going on in Chattogram City Corporation," Harunur Rashid said.
When the ruling party MPs loudly protested his statement e, Harun replied: "(I am) not telling untruth at all, (I am) telling [the House| after knowing the truth."
Taking part in the discussion of passing the Civil Courts (Amendment) Bill, Law Minister Anisul Huq later in 2021 said: "Those present here (Parliament) were not born just yesterday. They’re talking about the election, we saw the Yes-No vote of Ziaur Rahman, (we saw) February 15 election, ballot boxes were not found at that time. There was no ballot box for casting votes. It’s not necessary to learn how to make elections fair from those who have such characters. We’ve returned the voting rights of people to them."
Another BNP MP Rumin Farhana alleged that the administration cast votes while people witnessed that.
"There is no need to learn about elections from anyone, everyone knows how to cast vote…," she said.
Jatiya Party MP Mujibul Huq Chunnu said the municipal election in his area was held in a free and fair manner.
Another Jatiya Party MP Pir Fazlur Rahman said a rebel candidate of Sunamganj Jagannatpur won in the election. "BNP candidates also told the BBC that the elections were held in a fair manner," he said.
Shamim Haider Patwary, an MP of the same party, said that 84% votes were cast in his municipality elections where the Plough (the electoral symbol of Jatiya Party) won it. "Election will be fair if everybody wants to," he said.
Standing for amendment proposals in the Civil Courts (Amendment) Bill, 2021, BNP MP Harun said agents have been driven out from many centres in Chattogram. "Media people are not getting passes. If you want, I can show you that now as those are in [my] phone," he said.
In reply, the Law Minister said: “During the BNP regime, we could not know when and where the elections were going to be held. What had happened on February 15 and how many won with votes?" he questioned.
Voting in the Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) election is going on amid widespread violence, including attacks on candidates, explosions and sporadic violence on Wednesday, leaving two people dead, police and witnesses said.
